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Educating the Corps: real and perceived barriers to higher education for United States Marine non-commissioned officers

EDUCATING THE CORPS: REAL AND PERCEIVED BARRIERS TO HIGHER EDUCATION FOR UNITED STATES MARINE
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS
by
Don Alfred Murphy
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
August 2007
Copyright 2007 Don Alfred Murphy

Despite the incentive of higher education as promised by the Marine Corps, Marines face a combination of barriers and deterrents to participating in higher education. This study examined the barriers and deterrents experienced by Marines NCOs not participating in off-duty higher education. The Marine NCOs not participating in higher education were compared with Marine NCOs who have overcome the barriers and are participating in education programs. The barriers faced by Marine NCOs were also compared to barriers faced by Army NCOs in previous studies (Covert, 2002; Jackson, 2002) to identify if these barriers are unique or not to Marine NCOs. This study evaluated whether the primary barrier exists within the policies of the educational institutions, the chain of command influence experienced by the Marines, or within the Marine's own attitudes and perceptions.; The external barriers perceived by Marines are work conflicts, deployments, chain of command, and lack of information. The chain of command executes policy as it is understood or interpreted. Most NCOs and officers supervise someone and are in the chain of command. The more leeway the lower levels of the chain of command have to interpret policy, the more variance in the application of that policy. The only way to effect a change that will mitigate "work conflicts" and "chain of command" barriers on a base is to direct change from the top.; The internal barriers perceived by the non-participants are family (situation), lack of desire, time priorities, and personal choice. Data in this study show that most Marine non-participants (over 60%) do not believe that a college degree is important to their career.; The primary barriers for Army NCOs, including the barriers Covert (2002) considered unique for Army NCOs, are the same barriers that are identified in this study as barriers for Marine NCOs. This study suggests that Marine NCOs and Army NCOs do not have barriers unique from each other and studies conducted on either group apply to both groups.

EDUCATING THE CORPS: REAL AND PERCEIVED BARRIERS TO HIGHER EDUCATION FOR UNITED STATES MARINE
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS
by
Don Alfred Murphy
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
August 2007
Copyright 2007 Don Alfred Murphy